Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Crafty Bag *pic heavy*

Good morning, Kitschies! I'm feeling a bit better today, but I'm still home. Why? Because Thing 2 has diarrhea and horrible diaper rash. Daycare won't take him when he has diarrhea (I don't blame them) and I want to keep on top of the diaper rash. Poor thing - he's never had diaper rash and now it seems he's making up for lost time. I figure nothing's better than a mother's eagle eye on the problem, so we're home today. Mason's playing with Play Doh and I'm blogging away...for now.

Early in April, I got the sewing bug for some reason. And I knew what I wanted: a reusable bag I could take to work to carry my lunch in. Nothing as big as those bags you can pick up everywhere for a buck and something that would be uniquely mine. But nothing very difficult to sew because I'm not anywhere an expert seamstress. I did a search for reusable market bag patterns and I found THIS pattern that looked to be about my skill level (one of the many, many reasons I love the internets).

I dug my machine out of Thing 2's closet, dusted it off and got it all set up. See the soda can? Yes. That is a necessary piece of equipment for sewing. I got all my tools together and I started on my bag.

I got about 4 inches of sewing done before I ran in to a problem. My machine just would *not* go. I tried changing the stitch tension. I tried re-threading the needle. I tried re-threading the bobbin. I tried lots of different things but *nothing* worked. Finally, I took a close look at the needle. This is what I found.

Um. Yeah. Sewing needles are *not* supposed to look like the letter J. I have no idea how the needle got so bent. *sigh* Luckily, I had replacement needles. And the right size needles, too! But...try as I might, I could not get the new needle to stay put. I asked one of my co-workers if she knew how to replace sewing machine needles and she said she did. YAY! I took my machine to work and she replaced the needle for me! Once I got that fixed, it was smooth sailing.

It took me a while (it's been a loooong time since I've sewn using an actual pattern), but here's the finished product.

It looks good at first glance, but I noticed something pretty much right away and I was hoping nobody else would notice. But the hubs did. It has a "special fin". One of the handles is wider than the other. But not bad for my first try, right? And this one is mine, so it doesn't matter that it's not perfect.

This is the inside. It looks a lot more pastel than it really is. It looks like hot pink against the black. I love it! I've taken it back and forth to work since I made it. It's sturdy and washable. I officially got the sewing bug.

While grocery shopping by myself the following weekend, I picked up a pattern and some more material and got started on a new bag - this time for Mason. I got a little frustrated because this was an actual pattern and while it was a little more difficult than the first bag, it still looked easy enough for me. I ended up giving up on the actual pattern but it ended up better than the first bag.

I love the colors in this bag, but I don't like that it's all the same fabric. The inside isn't a different color than the outside, but it's a good durable bag for him to use at daycare.

I remembered something after making this bag. I'm not very good at sewing around curves. It's not horrible, but it's not as clean as I'd like it to be. But, Mason doesn't care and it does the job of holding his quilt and sheet for daycare, so I'm happy.

I wasn't done yet! I got better with the second bag (no "special fin" this time) so I made a trip to the fabric store one day on my lunch break. After all...Nate didn't have a bag!! I ended up with enough material to make two more bags.

I love the fabric on this one! *all pics are clickable* It's all different robots. Perfect for Nate. He loved the fabric and he couldn't wait til I made his bag. Poor kid. It took me til *this* weekend to finish it. I had it all traced out and pinned, but I hadn't made the time to actually sew it.

I like the inside of this bag, too. Nate's bag is a little different from the other two - the openings aren't rounded. Much easier for me to do. Nate was so happy to get his new bag! We stuffed his quilt and sheet in it for daycare and he carried it off with him on Monday.

I had so much fun with these bags. I have a feeling that I'll be doing so more tweaking for the next bag (a different black exterior with a red checkered pattern with little ants for the interior) and I like that I'm not confined to a specific pattern. Each of these are unique and they get better with each attempt. However, I don't have the drive to do the next bag like I did the first two. I'm like that...I'll go all obsessive over some project and then once I get it out of my system, I don't follow through and finish all I've planned to do. It's a character flaw of mine. LOL

Well, Mr M and I are off to the store to get the makings for dinner tonight. Have a great Tuesday!! I'll be back tomorrow with another We Want to Know Wednesday and maybe I'll attempt another On Wednesdays We Wear Pink (since last week's addition got dumped - STOOPID Blogger).

10 comments:

Thanks for the pattern! I think they are all cute, I admit I did smile at the off handles! :) I would do something like that, I'm not an expert seamstress either. I think you did a great job on all of them though. And I am like you when it comes to projects, I too get obsessive and buy tons of stuff then I'm done with it...it's bad..I could save a lot of money.

I tried to get into sewing but always solidly sucked at it so outside of repairs with a needle and thread and making small items that require a needle and thread (as my sewingmachine - well, its a long sad story - is gone).

Ramble, ramble, ramble. I love those bags, btw. I use cloth bags for everything and keep a bunch in my car but they've all been made by "other" so they are not cool like yours.

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Who am I?

I am a 30-something wife and mom to two adorable boys. I am doing this blog to comment on my day-to-day trials and tribulations as a mom, my love of pretty things, my obsessive collection of recipes and all things in the above and beyond. Characters welcome. :)